Video Game PR Campaign: Act Like Fred Phelps June 4, 2009

Video Game PR Campaign: Act Like Fred Phelps

By Guest Contributor
June 4, 2009

At the E3 conference this week, Electronic Arts’ marketing department had a unique way to promote their new video game Dante’s Inferno.

They acted like Fred Phelps and members of the Westboro Baptist Church, protesting their own game:

The few ‘protestors’ can be seen carrying signs which read “EA = Electronic Anti-Christ“, an ironic sentiment, given the source, that most gamers would not disagree with. Armed with pamphlets that read “Our high score is heaven!” and “There is no reset button in Hell“, the PR materials are a laugh riot…

The pics are amusing, too:

praystation

(Thanks to Mike for the link!)

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  • Richard Wade

    This is very clever. They probably anticipated they’d get some screwballs protesting their game, so why not build an ad campaign around it? Then any real protesters are just free augmentation.

  • Although it is kind-of funny, I don’t know if it is a good advertising strategy.

    Most people probably think anybody carrying a sign and a megaphone is a complete idiot.

  • Nick Awesomeson

    EA sure is the antichrist. Case in point: Harry Potter 4. THE MOST UNCHRISTIAN HEATHEN PIECE OF SOFTWARE EVER. Horrible game, it is awful.

  • Love it. This is so funny.

  • Zar

    Infer-NO!!! Brilliant! I like how they manage to get the right look for their material, like the tacky protest signs and the cheesy youtube video complete with unneccessary motion and hideous fonts.

  • BathTub

    Jeff it’s been a fairly decent strat, as it’s been getting press all over the place…. like here!

  • I’ll conceed the point if the comments get up to 15. 🙂

  • Jim

    Well, I was abruptly made aware of the fact that while I thought I was a gamer, I had no idea that this game was coming out so… not a bad marketing ploy… and shame on me for not knowing sooner.

  • Les

    Yep, I fell for it. Having seen more than a few such protests in the past, some in person, it looked legit enough to me.

    The question is: Does it count as a Poe? It doesn’t seem like it was meant as a parody, but to get folks, like me, talking about the game.

  • J. J. Ramsey

    Jeff: “Most people probably think anybody carrying a sign and a megaphone is a complete idiot.”

    And if a complete idiot tells you not to do something, wouldn’t that make you more inclined to do it?

  • You know, the more I look at the pictures, the more I’m warming up to the idea that it IS a good idea for advertising… Especially if you have almost no budget for advertising. I wonder what other causes or products could be advertised in such a way (poking fun at the wing-nuts).

  • Eigenvector

    Perfect example of Poe’s law in action. It’s impossible to differentiate these guys from real religious protesters.

  • Brilliant. Nothing like playing by someone else’s rules of the publicity game.

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